


Love And Family

by ReidFan



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-05-01 19:52:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5218697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReidFan/pseuds/ReidFan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When JJ's friend's newborn is kidnapped, the team searches for a baby selling unsub.....and finds someone else in the process.  Some bad words and character trauma, not unlike the episodes themselves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love And Family

**Author's Note:**

> Reid needs some love in his life. Not on the phone, not long distance, not imaginary. He's been through enough. Almost. 
> 
> This is my first time posting. Please forgive the formatting errors, if they appear. I'm just not good with technology.

 Love and Family (Lyubov i semya)

A Criminal Minds fanfic

(Reid/Loker, rated PG)

© 2015 [mccabebabe@hotmail.com](mailto:mccabebabe@hotmail.com)

 

Disclaimer: I own only the storyline and even that only loosely. The premise, the characters, the formula etc are all owned by the Mark Gordon Company. I’m just borrowing them for a while. I promise to return everyone relatively unscathed.

 

A great big hug kiss and thank you to my JitTtwin Diana for being the sounding board, the checklist, the historian, the specialist, spell and grammar check, the procedural guru, and the expert on all things MGG; to Melanee for her enthusiasm and input; to Carol for the visual reward system she provided; and to MGG- the very inspiration for the sleepless nights and early mornings, missed meals, overcooked meals, forgotten altogether meals and waaaaaay too much coffee and wine.

_*****_

_  
__“Where there is love there is life” -_ Mahatma Gandhi

 

*******

 

She closed the car door after securing baby Alex properly in his car seat then turned her attention to the large awkward cardboard box enclosing the new high chair she’d just purchased. The lady from The Happy Baby —Nancy her nametag said— was holding it upright as she waited for Melanie to open the hatch, which she now did. Together, the women loaded the high chair into the SUV and Melanie thanked her once again as she climbed into the driver’s seat to leave. Nancy stepped back and read the license plate number on the back of the vehicle as Melanie and baby Alex drove away.

 

         Immediately, she returned to the store and hurried to the cash register desk. Opening the drawer, she removed the store’s copy of the invoice for the sale she had just made and turned to the photocopier behind her, made a copy of the invoice before returning it to the drawer. Quickly, she wrote the license plate number on the copy, along with the notation ‘red Ford SUV’ and ‘dark haired boy Alex’ underneath the printed name and address of Melanie Coburn.

 

*******

 

         “Of course we miss you around here but it must be so exciting to be home with Henry AND a new baby!” Penelope Garcia moved her cell phone from one ear to another as she freed her left hand from technology and took a quick sip of coffee. Listening intently to her caller, Agent Jennifer Jareau, she laughed as JJ explained about her second child’s arrival a month earlier.

 

         “Labour was way easier this time, PG, I was home in two days. My roomie was having her first though. It’s funny, we’d been at childbirth classes together because her husband is a pilot in the air force. He’s in Iraq for another six months. I actually went shopping with her for car seats the day before we had our babies, Pen! Carolyn had a boy too, beautiful little blond named Michael.”

 

         Garcia continued chatting with JJ for several moments before she reluctantly brought their conversation to a close and returned to work. “I have so much to do. And now with both you and Kate gone, JJ, the testosterone level around here is just uber high. I need some pink and purple in here. And out there. Gonna put some pink and purple on that desk,” she paused for a moment to listen to JJ laugh and make a retort and finished her thought “Think Boy Genius would mind a purple bear and pink bird on his desk? Never mind. I’m not gonna tell him. I’m just gonna put them down there. He won’t even notice. Talk soon my girl!” She put the phone down and opened a desk drawer, removing two little plastic toys and making her way down to the bullpen where she placed the purple panda and the pink flamingo in discreet positions next to the computer monitor on the desk of SSA Dr. Spencer Reid.

 

******

 

        Amy struggled with the baby seat over one arm, juggling her purse and two shopping bags in the other. Giving up, she put the bags down and rummaged through her purse looking for her car keys.

 

         “Hey, could you use some help there?” a feminine voice asked. Startled at first, Amy gasped but her eyes took in the friendly looking dark haired woman in front of her.

 

         “It’s okay, I got it. Thank you though,” as she found her keys and pushed the remote button to open the car door. She picked up the bags and tossed them into the car. The woman was still standing next to her and Amy felt a little uncomfortable. As she turned to her right to say something, she felt a sudden sharp pain to the left side of her head and fell unconscious to the ground. The car seat, with blond baby Stephen aboard, was wrenched from her arms and spirited away by the woman and her unseen accomplice.

 

         Several minutes later, Amy regained consciousness and discovered Stephen missing. Hysterically, she groped through her purse for her cell phone and called 911. Ambulance and police soon arrived, the former taking her to the hospital for treatment, the latter following to take a statement and start an investigation.

 

         Somewhere nearby, Nancy cradled little Stephen in her arms as her mysterious male accomplice worked on his computer. The baby was well and unharmed. She rocked him gently as she listened to her partner confirm a deal for him.

 

*******

 

         “I just wanted to thank you again for Saturday night. That was so much fun, I’m just really sorry I fell asleep before the episode ended,” Dorian Loker spoke into her cell phone and moved the headset from her surveillance equipment off one ear so she could hear better. As awkward as she felt about falling asleep, she smiled at the recollection of awakening in Spencer’s arms the next morning, both still laying entwined on the sofa in her apartment.

 

         Reid laughed, and quickly looked around to see who was in earshot. His eyes took in SSAs David Rossi and Derek Morgan, both poring over paperwork at Morgan’s desk. Reid lowered his voice anyway, almost to a whisper and replied, “It’s okay Dory. Ten consecutive hours of Dr. Who would put almost anyone to sleep. Thank you for indulging me.”

 

         She glanced at her surveillance equipment; it was all still very silent. Her suspects were obviously not in the building. “I need to go out and get a coffee, Spencer. Can you believe I forgot to pick some up this morning? I’m gonna be here all night, I’m gonna need coffee.” She picked up her purse and headed out the door. “Spencer?”

 

         “You’re going out for coffee?” He tidied up some papers on his desk and picked up the pink plastic flamingo. “What the-“ he muttered, under his breath then he replaced the offending toy back on the desk and a smile crossed his face as its origin occurred to him. He shot an appreciative look up in the direction of Garcia’s office and returned his attention to his cell phone. “Dory, are you walking?” He slung his bag over his shoulder and left the office. “I’m just heading home now myself. Can you do me a favour, Dory? Can you. Will…. Will you please text me and let me know you made it back there safely?”

 

         Touched by his concern, as unnecessary as she thought it was, she replied as she walked confidently past the other pedestrian traffic on her way to the coffee shop. “If it’ll make you rest easier, yes, I will. I’m indulging you _again_ , Dr. Reid.”

 

         He smiled, and she could hear the relief in his voice as he thanked her. “And you can indulge me too, Spencer. Dinner. Friday night? I’ll get out of here early. I’ll even cook! How’s that?”

 

         “That sounds wonderful, Dorian,” he answered as he dodged other commuters walking through the transit concourse. “Um. We still meeting for coffee after work tomorrow?”

 

         “Absolutely!” came her enthusiastic reply. “I can only take so much cold coffee. In takeout cups. By myself. It’ll be nice to share again.”

 

         “Right. Okay. Remember, please text me when you get back.”

 

         “I will. Love you. Goodbye,” she hung up as he opened his mouth to speak. Dorian jammed her phone into her purse, opening the door to the coffee shop with her other hand.

 

         Reid walked down the stairs to the subway platform, staring at his phone and wondering if he’d heard right.

 

********

 

         Stephen, now back in his car seat, was handed over to a couple standing in the shadows of a darkened building in the city’s downtown after Nancy’s male accomplice was given a large envelope stuffed with cash. After confirming the money, he indicated they could leave which they quickly did. Nancy and her partner returned to their vehicle. As she settled into the passenger seat, Nancy remembered the paper in her pocket and gave it to her partner. He nodded approvingly and he pulled the car away from the curb, unintentionally squealing the tires as he drove away. The squealing tires drew the attention of the young woman walking down the street carrying a bag containing coffee. Dorian Loker looked up and saw the dark SUV. Force of habit, or good police training, whichever it was, impelled her to note the license plate number as the vehicle sped away.

 

         A short time later, the same car approached the home of JJ’s friend Carolyn. She was unbuckling Michael’s car seat when the dark SUV pulled up at the bottom of her driveway. Nancy approached her, map in hand.

 

         “I’m sorry to bother you, but we appear to be lost. I’m looking for Franklin Street.” She held out the map to Carolyn who turned to look at it. Something about the woman seemed familiar, but before she could say anything, Carolyn felt the pain of blunt impact to her left temple and fell to the ground. Nancy scooped up Michael in his car seat and the two kidnappers fled in their car.

 

*******

 

         “Yeah, that couple hasn’t been back yet boss. It’s been six days now. There’s another pair that have been there twice in the last three days. But so far I’ve got nothing that actually points to baby selling. I’ve uploaded the transcripts I did take. And I’ve also sent you complete descriptions and vehicle IDs on everyone who’s been here in the last two weeks. But only the one couple even fits the bill regarding prospective baby buyers, Sir.”

 

         Loker moved her phone from her left ear to her right and keyed a few strokes on her computer. She nodded as her boss gave her more instructions. “Yes Sir, I’ll be here.”

 

******

 

         Rossi, Morgan and Reid arrived at the BAU bullpen the following morning. Each was engrossed with paperwork and didn’t notice their unit chief’s arrival until SSA Aaron Hotchner-“Hotch”- beckoned them to the roundtable room. Garcia joined them immediately.

 

         “In the past few months, there’s been a string of kidnappings of infant children. Last night, the victim was JJ’s friend Carolyn, whose month old son Michael was taken. I spoke with the head of the FBI’s Kidnapping and Missing Persons Department, Charles Boone, this morning myself, explained that the latest victim is a close friend and he gave the go ahead for us to help out the case. Garcia?”

 

        Penelope stepped up to the smart-board, clicked on her remote several times and explained to the team, “Two nights ago, two month old Stephen Weston —a photo of the cherubic blond boy appeared on the smart-board—was kidnapped from his mother’s car after she was distracted by one person, a woman, and clubbed over the head by an unknown accomplice.”

 

         She paused and called up another photo on the board. “Last night, JJ’s next door neighbour and friend Carolyn was just returning home from shopping with her new baby. One month old Michael,“ she explained, indicating the newest photo, also a blond, “was taken under very similar circumstances. Both mothers were hospitalised, the first one, Amy Weston, has already been released. JJ said she’d call and let us know when Carolyn Johnson is released.”

 

         The team read through the information. It was decided that Rossi and Morgan would go interview two other families whose babies have been taken in the last few weeks. Hotch excused himself when he received a phone call. Reid started a geographical profile on the clear board, carefully noting where each baby lived and the location from which each had been taken. Drawing several sets of lines in different colours, he traced the movements each mother had made before the abductions, and the gender and colouring of each baby. He pulled out a chair and sat down, staring at the board deep in thought.

 

         Garcia returned from her office, watching Reid intently. Something seemed off about him but she couldn’t place it. She watched as he picked up the purple panda and passed it from one hand to the other repeatedly before very carefully setting in back in place, exactly as she had placed it the previous day.

 

         ******

 

         As he came out of his office, Hotch’s cellphone rang again. He answered it and sighed audibly. ‘Where did it happen this time?” He listened intently and approached the table where Reid was set up, updating the younger man with information about the newest victim.

 

         “Melanie Carson was just attacked and her month old son, Alex was taken.” He indicated the abduction site on Reid’s map, which Reid quickly updated. Garcia came into the room, carrying another file, which she handed to Reid. Consulting it, he changed the colour of one of his geographical profile lines: the child was dark haired this time.

 

         “Victimology. It’s all over the place. They’re all infants. But there’s no one target demographic. They’re male, female. White, black. Blond, dark haired. The only commonality is that they’re all babies,” Reid mused aloud. Once again, he played with the purple panda for several moments before gently placing it back in its spot. Garcia waited a tactful moment then told him.

 

         “JJ just called. Carolyn’s at home.” Hotch nodded his head towards Reid, who stood up immediately. “I’m on the way.”

 

         *******

 

         Morgan and Rossi returned from interviewing families and set about working the profile. Ideas were tossed back and forth. Hotch rejoined them, updating them on the latest victims. Rossi pointed out the only things that both victims they spoke to had in common, was that they had made purchases at several stores: a local grocery store, a drug store and the Happy Baby Store. One family’s blond baby daughter had been taken, the other family was Asian, and their son had been kidnapped. Neither family knew the other, nor were any connections to the most recent abductions uncovered. Rossi updated Reid’s geographical profile; carefully using a different colour from those Reid had already used, to indicate the shopping stops made by each mother.

 

         “None had the same doctor? None were born in the same hospital?” Morgan wondered aloud, confirming that information from the files. He rolled thoughts around in his head for a few minutes before sharing his next thought.

 

         “They’re stealing babies? To what end?”

 

         Garcia blanched. “Selling them… Oh… ick.” She whirled around and returned to her office to start working her magic on her computer. As she worked, Reid returned from interviewing Carolyn Johnson. His information confirmed a connection to the same stores as well. Morgan and Rossi were sent to investigate the stores angle.

 

         ******

 

         Loker sighed as she turned another page in the Russian copy of War and Peace she had borrowed from Reid. Her surveillance equipment sat quietly beside her, the subjects of her wiretap were out. Checking her cell phone for probably the tenth time in the past ten minutes, she sighed again. Nothing since the brief exchange of texts the previous night after she’d returned from her coffee run.

 

         “Spencer must be on a case too,” she sighed. “At least, I hope that’s all it is,” before turning back the page after realising she hadn’t read a word.

 

         ******

 

         The trip to the stores proved fruitless for Morgan and Rossi.

 

         “The woman who runs the baby store in no way fits our profile of the female unsub. She’s an older lady, graying hair, soft spoken but still very much in charge. A widow, with a couple grandchildren out west,” Rossi explained, “And she said they don’t keep personal information on their customers either.”

 

         “The grocery store is anonymous shopping. If the unsubs are getting name and address information from a store, it’s not the grocery store. You pay cash, or you use a debit or credit card. No personal information is collected. Unless the unsubs follow the victim home and strike, but that would be a crime of opportunity, or just dumb luck. It doesn’t seem likely. They’re targeting _specific_ babies, according to Reid’s geographical profile here,” Morgan shared.

 

         “And the drug store?” Hotch asked.

 

         “Only the pharmacy staff has access to that personal information. But none of the victims were filling prescriptions anyway. They were buying diapers on sale. And Formula. Stuff like that. Again, completely random,” Rossi replied.

 

         “Okay, so it’s not likely to be an information leak from any of the stores,” Hotch mused aloud, but didn’t sound convinced. “I’m not ready to rule any of them out though.  I’ll call Boone and give him our profile for his unit, but let’s get the Metro PD and deliver the profile to them too.”

 

******

 

         Hotch, Morgan, Reid and Rossi assembled in the main office of the Washington DC police department. They explained that kidnappings were handled by the FBI’s Kidnapping and Missing Persons Department, but the local police needed to be informed in case they came across the suspects. The profilers explained about the kidnappings, that the MO is always the same: the middle aged dark haired female distracts the mother, either with a ruse for help or directions and while she’s engaged, the male unsub whose the same age or older, attacks the mother from behind with a blunt object, hitting her on the left side of the head.

 

         Hotch spoke, “This likely makes the male left-handed and that he’s most likely the dominant partner in the team. They’ve taken babies of both genders, all races and different hair colours. This makes us believe that the motive is not revenge or because of some loss by the unsubs. It’s financial. They’re selling these babies. And because they’re targeting specific babies, either by gender or appearance or both, we think this may be a steal-to-order team.”

 

******

 

         Garcia was waiting for them when they returned from the police department. Rossi and Morgan returned to their files, Hotch and Reid followed Garcia to her office.

 

         “Sir. I found something.” She showed them the online market she found, explaining that one could actually order a baby from the site, for a price. Hotch stood silently, deep in thought for a long moment before verbalising his plan,

 

         “Two of us will pose as a couple wanting a baby.” Reid volunteered immediately. Garcia looked up from her computer and said,

 

         “With Kate and JJ both off, you’ll need someone else to pose as the wannabe mother. Do you want me to contact Swan and see if they can lend us a female agent ASAP Hotch?”

 

         He nodded then immediately changed his mind, “We may not have time for that-“

 

         “I’ll do it, Sir. I can do this. Reid can do the talking, I’ll just be the desperate woman who wants a baby.”  She was already inputting their request for a blond, blue-eyed boy, deliberately choosing the profile of Michael Johnson. Garcia said she would handle the online angle of their ruse, she’d accompany but let Reid handle the payment and exchange.

 

         Hotch considered this for a moment and declined, gently explaining that he needed Garcia and her expertise at the office. He told Reid and Garcia that he’d get a female undercover from the Kidnap unit to pose as Reid’s wife and moved to his office to make the necessary arrangements from the landline in there.

 

        Reid made his way back down to his own desk. He moved the purple panda and the pink flamingo around again then repositioned them. His hand went into his pocket for his cell phone, discovering it wasn’t there. He opened his briefcase, didn’t see it in there either and he realised he’d left it at home that morning.

 

         “Dammit,” he muttered as he moved the panda a slight millimetre to correct its position.

 

******

 

         Loker read page 127 of War and Peace for the fifth time and tossed the book down, irritated. She picked up her cell phone again. Turning it on, the familiar face of Spencer appeared, but it was just her wallpaper photo. There were no missed calls or new texts. She debated calling him and lost the debate, putting the phone back down. A glance at the clock reminded her they were meeting for coffee in a few hours. Something was bugging her; she couldn’t quite nail it down. She picked the book up, finding page 127.

 

*******

 

         Typing away at her computer, Garcia was startled when she received an alert. There was a message from the baby seller. They were very lucky! They just happened to have a blond boy, for the right price. Garcia sent the acceptance notice and called out to the team.

 

         “We have one!” Reid, Morgan and Rossi mobilised immediately. A hidden wire was put on Reid, and he put on a coat over an unmarked Kevlar. Reid carried the briefcase, envelope inside stuffed with ‘money.’ Rossi and Morgan prepared to back him up, and contacted the Kidnapping and Missing Persons Unit Chief Charles Boone to provide additional backup.

 

         In the Quantico parking lot, they met up with SSA Diana Roberts from the K&MP Unit. After introductions were made (“Reid, meet your temporary new wife,” Rossi had deadpanned) she climbed into the passenger seat of the lead vehicle; Reid took the driver’s seat. They set off in several vehicles; the others followed Reid at a discreet distance.

 

         Agent Roberts asked Reid for a briefing on their case. He told her everything relevant and raised an eyebrow when her questions then turned more personal. Smiling, she pointed out she should know about her husband if their cover was to stand up to scrutiny.

 

         He smiled ruefully and told her, “My name is Dr. William Dorian. I love to read. I like Dr. Who. My favourite colour is purple. I wear mismatched socks because the last time I wore matching ones I sprained my ankle. I like Chinese and Thai food but I can’t use chopsticks. And my favourite holiday is Hallowe’en.”

 

         “Good to know. Let’s see…. Jennifer Dorian, we’ve been married for three years. We’re both only children. We’ve been trying since forever, but can’t have a baby. And it’s been fun trying… We want to buy one because we’ve exhausted the adoption route and don’t want to wait any longer. I love to read too. I hate science fiction, but I tolerate your Dr. Who thing. I find it adorable that you mismatch your socks. And I couldn’t use chopsticks if my life depended on it. Thanksgiving is my holiday of choice.”

 

         Reid nodded. Despite his experience and his training, he was nervous and a little angry. JJ’s friend’s baby was in danger. He’d promised her they would get Michael back, safe and sound. He checked his anger and refocused on the task at hand. Glancing in the rear view mirror, he spotted Morgan’s vehicle in the distance, as well as a pair of SUVs from the K&MP unit. Roberts consulted the map and reaffirmed their destination.  A few miles later, they arrived. Reid pulled into a dark spot and parked the car. As prearranged, they tested their wires, received confirmation from Morgan that they were audible then Reid picked up the briefcase and they exited the vehicle.

 

         Taking a deep breath, Reid reached for Roberts’ hand and together they walked towards the door at the side of the building, as the instructions had said. Roberts let Reid take the lead as they’d planned.

 

         The door opened and a man stepped out. He eyed them suspiciously.

 

         “BabyMan?” Reid asked carefully. “I’m William Dorian. My wife, Jennifer,” he indicated Roberts. “We’ve been, um, communicating,” he trailed off, letting the man make the next move.

 

         The man grunted, apparently satisfied he had the right people. He acknowledged being ‘BabyMan’ and motioned for the Dorians to follow him. All the while, his left hand never left his coat pocket.

 

         “You don’t wear no weddin’ ring?”

 

         “No. I - I can’t because of my line of work. I’m a doctor,” Reid replied, thinking quickly. He and Roberts squeezed hands.

 

         They had stepped perhaps a dozen steps into the building. There was only one floor; it was an abandoned shop, judging by the appearance. There were three doors on the back wall, no windows on either side. The man looked Reid and Roberts up and down again and grunted. Roberts, playing her part, stepped a little closer to Reid and clung to his hand. Nancy approached with the baby. Michael was strapped into his car seat. Reid stopped, stalling for time, Roberts stepped in just behind him. Again the unsub grunted. His left hand twitched in his pocket. He drew his gun from his pants and said, “I don’t like this. Don’t like this at all. Where’s the money?”

 

         Nancy was standing right next to him, car seat with baby in hand. Reid indicated the briefcase, and slowly moved to open it. The man shoved Nancy aside, causing her to trip. Instinctively, Reid stepped forward to prevent the fall. Nancy let go of the car seat as she panicked. Roberts moved to see to the baby, but as the seat fell it hit her, sending her sprawling awkwardly to the floor, slamming her head against the concrete. The man reacted violently, pulling his gun up and aiming. Nancy screamed, Reid crouched and moved forward, intending to shield the helpless baby in the car seat as the gun fired once and then again. Reid moaned as he fell, landing unconscious on top of the briefcase. Nancy screamed again and ran. The man hesitated for a moment and decided against taking the baby, instead fled towards the back doors.

 

         Head pounding, Roberts scrambled to her feet, torn between pursuit and tending to Reid and the baby. In a split second, the decision was made for her as Morgan and Rossi raced in.

 

         “Shots fired!” Morgan had yelled, leading the charge into the building. The other FBI agents were converging behind them. Rossi was right on Morgan’s heels; they entered the building, a cavernous room with several exits at the back. Reid lay unconscious in a pool of blood on the floor in the centre of the room, the overturned car seat next to him.

 

         “Go!” Rossi shouted at Morgan, indicating he should pursue the male unsub. “I need a medic in here!” he shouted into his wire. “Are you all right?” he asked Roberts. Michael had awakened in the commotion and began to cry. “Shhh, shhh, it’s okay baby, you’re okay.” Rossi cooed gently to the baby, righted the car seat and then added, addressing Reid, “Hope the same for you.”

 

         Rossi pulled off the blanket wrapped around baby Michael and used it to apply pressure to the bleeding spot at Reid’s side. He’d been shot twice, once in the chest into the Kevlar, and another bullet had managed to find its way under the Kevlar just above his waist on the left side.

 

         “Hang in there, kid, help is on the way.”

 

         “I’m okay,” Roberts said. She knelt down beside Reid and indicated she’d take over if Rossi wanted to pursue the other unsub.

 

         Rossi nodded. “EMS is on the way. Baby’s okay, but should go to the hospital anyway. Keep pressure on his left side,” he directed, indicating Reid, “and don’t let him die!”

 

         Rossi raced to the back of the room and flung open the second door, having seen Morgan go through the first one. The door led to a storage room full of clothing racks and store fixtures and not much else. Slamming the door shut, he ran to the third door, an exit from the building. He could see in the distance a figure running but whichever unsub it was, there was no way Rossi would be able to catch up. Instead, he scoped out the scene, taking in exit points and called the waiting backup officers to let them know where he thought this unsub was heading. Then he turned to the interior of the building and ran over to the first door, the one he’d seen Morgan go through.

 

         Morgan could hear the sirens and part of him relaxed but he wasn’t about to abandon the chase. The unsub was just ahead of him, running through the back alley behind a line of shops. “FBI! STOP!” he shouted several times, to no avail. As soon as the faster Morgan was in range, he fired off a few shots. Certain he’d hit his mark, he charged ahead. Blood drops offered a trail Morgan followed. It took him to a subway station. As he ran down the stairs, he could hear the train leaving the station. Frustrated, Morgan called in on his radio to alert them. He ran back to the site of the baby exchange and found EMS loading Reid into the ambulance. A city cop had already taken the baby to the hospital. Roberts had gone with them.

 

         “How is he?” Morgan demanded. The female ambulance attendant shrugged him off, attending to her patient. The other one, climbing into the driver’s seat, replied “Lost a lot of blood, bullet wound to the side. We’ll know more when we get him to the hospital.”

 

         Morgan rolled his eyes but bit back the response that was welling up inside him. Rossi returned and told him the other unsub had managed to get away up the street.

 

         “Why don’t you go to the hospital with Reid? I’ll go back to the office and catch Hotch up,” Rossi suggested. He took possession of Reid’s briefcase and keys and gave Morgan a reassuring squeeze on the arm as he passed by him. Hotch’s phone went straight to voicemail, Rossi frowned and hit redial as he got into the car and drove away.

 

*******

 

         “Three hours later. Still on page 127.” Loker gave up and tossed the book aside again. It was way past the time Spencer should have arrived for their coffee date. It wasn’t like him to not call if he was going to be delayed. Dorian’s bad feeling returned. She picked up her cell phone and called him. The call went straight to voice mail. Puzzled, and now more than a little concerned, she put the phone down and a shiver ran up her spine.

 

*******

 

         Rossi returned to the BAU in record time, calling out Hotch’s name as he strode purposefully into the round table room. Hotch, cell phone to his ear, arrived a split second behind Rossi.

 

         “What happened, Dave?”

 

         Rossi filled him in: that the baby, Michael Johnson, had been recovered safely. Reid was injured, he’d intervened to keep the baby safe and been shot in the process. Both unsubs got away, but Morgan managed to shoot one. They were both tracked to nearby subway station and would likely end up apprehended if the male were injured seriously enough to require medical attention, police would be aware immediately.

 

         Hotch and Rossi decided to go over all their information. They reiterated the MO in the Weston, Johnson and Carson cases all match at least two earlier cases. Hotch read it aloud: “Twice, the mother was coming out of a store with her baby in its car seat, carrying stuff, she was subsequently distracted by a dark haired, middle aged woman offering to help. Two other mothers were accosted in their own driveways, returning home from somewhere, the unsubs obviously laying in wait.  In one case, the woman feigned injury needing help and the mother complied, in another, like with Carolyn Johnson most recently, the woman approached with a map claiming to be lost.” He paused, and recalled. ”None of the mothers got a description of the man, though we know from their injuries, he’s more than likely left-handed. But they did describe the woman, and it fits the description of the woman in tonight’s baby deal.”

 

         Rossi hadn’t stopped thinking as he listened to Hotch read, and finally spoke “I want to do a cognitive interview with JJ’s friend Carolyn, Aaron.” Hotch nodded, and made the call to set it up.

 

         Garcia hung up the phone and returned to her keyboard. Her phone rang again. She glared at it, decided to ignore it and then decided she better answer it. Looking at the caller ID screen, she didn’t recognise the number.

 

         “Garcia,” she said distractedly.

 

         “Hello, yes. Miss Garcia. This is um, Dorian Loker, I’m with FBI Surveillance. I was hoping you could help me with an Internet question.”

 

         “Uh, sure, go ahead,” Garcia bit her lip. Loker, Loker, why does that name sound familiar, Garcia thought.

 

         “I’m needing to find out about black market selling of babies.” Loker told her, and was surprised to hear the sharp intake of breath on the other end. There was silence for a long moment and then Loker asked “Miss Garcia?”

 

         “I’m-I’m sorry. Yes. Internet. Search. Black market babies. Um well. Oh-” Garcia was flustered and Loker wondered why.

 

         _Loker_ , Garcia suddenly remembered. Loker was the agent who worked with Reid on the Sophie Troy kidnapping case. And now, she was calling here. About their case? But Reid would never have said anything about a case in progress to someone outside the team, Garcia knew. So she must be calling about her own case. Or, maybe she was looking for Reid.

 

         “Are you all right, Miss Garcia?”

 

         “Babies. Yes. Oh.” To herself, she chanted, “Deep breath, deep breath” and then steeled herself and returned to the call with Loker, “Please call me Penelope.”

 

         “And I’m Dorian. Is something wrong?”

 

         “Um. It’s fine. I’m fine. It’s just the whole idea of babies being stolen,” she white-lied, hating herself in the process.

 

         Loker was well aware who Garcia was, Reid had spoken of her on several occasions and the two of them were, by all accounts, good friends. Part of Loker couldn’t wait to meet the Knower of Everything Technological, as Spencer had once affectionately referred to Garcia. And part of Loker feared that same meeting. But this distracted woman hardly sounded like the strong and vibrant woman Spencer had described.

 

         “I’m working on a case about people buying stolen babies. And I remember Spencer saying that you were a whiz with anything to do with computers. I thought maybe you could help me with that.”

 

         “Oh.” Garcia took another deep breath. _Spencer? she thought_. “Yes. Of course. I could do that.”

 

         “I was actually trying to get hold of Spencer. I tried his cell, but he’s not answering, it went straight to voicemail.”

 

         Oh my god, thought Penelope, but she couldn’t just hang up. Loker knew Reid’s cell number. That could only mean one thing. _He’d_ given it to her. That meant- Garcia put it all together. She _couldn’t_ tell Loker what had happened. It wasn’t allowed. “Um, I’ll call you right back, okay Dorian?” She tossed down the phone and fled her office.

 

         Garcia practically flew out to the conference room where Rossi and Hotch were conferring. Rossi nodded at something Hotch said and they both rose from their seats. Rossi stepped away and pulled out his cellphone to make a call.

 

         “I’m sorry, Hotch, Sir? Um, Surveillance’s Agent Dorian Loker just called. She’s asking about black market babies. And Reid. But she called him Spencer,” Garcia hesitated for an instant before continuing, “I think there might be something going on, Sir, between Dorian Loker and….and our Doctor Reid! I want to go to the hospital, can we go to the hospital? I need to know if he’s gonna be okay.”

 

         Hotch interrupted her. “I need to make a phone call, Please wait here.” He walked out and called the Surveillance Unit Chief, Bob Patterson, and conferred with him briefly. As soon as he hung up, his cell rang. He answered it and then returned to Garcia and Rossi, who was just concluding his own phone call.

 

 

         “Agent Roberts gave the K&MP unit detailed descriptions of both unsubs, Hotch,” Rossi relayed, waving his cell before pocketing it.

 

         Hotchner nodded acknowledgment then addressed Garcia, “Call Loker back, find out where she is and tell her we’ll be picking her up shortly. I just spoke to Loker’s boss. He thinks our case may be linked to the one she’s investigating. Dave, that was JJ. She said Carolyn’s home from the hospital and wants to see you right away for that interview. She’s waiting at her house. Let her know Michael is safe and at the hospital and that you’ll bring her there to get him when you’re done the interview. They should be done checking him out by then.”

 

         After calling Loker back, Garcia packed up her laptop, along with a flash drive, a hotspot and a few other things, and then hustled back to join Hotch. She gave him Loker’s surveillance address and called it up on her smartphone.

 

         In the car, Garcia relayed the readout from the smartphone as Hotch drove. “It’s a nice area, upper middle class homes oh! and it’s just a couple blocks away from that Happy Baby store.”

 

         Not wanting to compromise her surveillance post, Loker was waiting for them at the coffee shop down the road from that house. Patterson had texted Hotchner to let him know. When the car pulled up, she was surprised to see Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner; she hadn’t expected the boss to be the one coming to get her.

 

         “Nice to see you again,” Hotch said, “I wish it was under more pleasant circumstances.”

 

        Loker climbed into the rear seat, still wondering what this was all about.

 

         “We’re going to the hospital now.” Both Loker and Garcia were puzzled by Hotch’s actions. He made the introduction; “Penelope Garcia Technical Analyst, this is Agent Dorian Loker, Surveillance. Who, apparently, has been dating our Dr. Reid.”

 

         He turned to Loker and gently told her Reid had been shot during the process of a case.

 

         Loker paled, Garcia patted her arm. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t say anything when you called.” Dorian nodded her understanding. She tried very hard not to cry, Penelope wrapped an arm around Loker hoping to comfort the younger woman. The ride to the hospital was a silent somber one.

 

*******

 

         She darted down an alley behind a small plaza, keeping out of sight of passing traffic in case there were police. At the end of the alley were a couple of dumpsters. She tossed her sweater into one of them and waited until all was clear then made her way across the street and through the park on the other side. Almost home, she said to herself, hoping her husband had also managed to get away from the police. Nancy made her way around to the side of the house where the door to their basement apartment was. Satisfied there was no one around, she slipped quickly into the residence and decided to wait in silence downstairs when she found herself alone.

 

*****

 

         Derek Morgan stood and paced across the small hospital waiting room for probably the fiftieth time in the past two hours since his friend and colleague Reid had been brought into the Emergency Room. He knew Reid was receiving the best possible care, but Morgan hated the feeling of helplessness. Sitting and waiting was driving him crazy. Pacing wasn’t helping either, he thought ruefully. It wasn’t that bad, he told himself. The shot Reid had taken in the neck in Texas was far worse, Morgan reasoned. And Rossi hadn’t seemed overly concerned, he thought. He let out a breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding. Reid wouldn’t dare die on them he decided. He sat down again. A moment passed and Morgan rose again, resuming his pacing and nearly walking headlong into Garcia as she arrived with Hotchner and Loker.

 

         He steadied her in his arms, enveloping her in a huge hug, then stepped back waiting for the others to speak. Hotchner again made the introductions: “SSA Derek Morgan, Agent Dorian Loker, FBI Surveillance.”

 

         They shook hands, Hotchner noted Morgan’s furrowed brow and his unanswered question plainly evident as they made eye contact. Feeling very much the outsider, Loker tearfully asked, “Have you heard anything about Spencer?” Morgan’s eyes again met Hotch’s and the truth dawned upon him at the same moment he finally placed Loker’s name.

        

         In the gentlest voice he could manage, Morgan apologised, “No, I’m sorry. I’ve been waiting-“ his eyes met hers and he hugged her. “I’m no good at this waiting. Reid woulda read Crime and Punishment by now. In Russian.” He pulled back and tipped Loker’s head up so their eyes met again. “He’s gonna be all right. I know it. I promise you.”

 

         She nodded in agreement, and Morgan led her to the seating area where they sat in adjoining chairs. Again he reassured her “He’ll be okay, Dorian. Reid’s been through way worse than this. Way worse.”

 

******

 

         Seated across from her in an armchair, Rossi addressed Carolyn Johnson. “Michael is safe, he’s at the hospital just to be checked out. I’ll take you there as soon as we’re done here, I’m sure they’ll have finished with him by then.” She nodded and thanked him.

 

         “I want you to close your eyes and think back to that night. What was the weather like? Was it windy? Cold? Did you smell anything? See anything?”

 

         She took several deep breaths as her thoughts returned to the events of that evening. Wisps of memories floated through her mind and she reported them as best she could to the compassionate agent seated in her living room.

 

         “It’s warm. The sun’s only just gone down so the night’s not cold yet. There’s a bit of a wind. I can smell the blossoms on the cherry trees in our next-door neighbour’s yard. Michael’s sleeping but I can hear him sucking in his sleep. He does that. JJ said Henry did the same thing. It’s mostly quiet, because I can hear Michael. And then I can’t. I look around; I see a car I’ve never seen before. It’s dark and has a loud engine. I think it’s green. It’s got R2 in its license plate. I’m a big Star Wars fan, I remember almost laughing when I see that. The engine stopped. I can hear Michael again. The woman…the woman is dark haired. Middle aged, she,” Carolyn stopped for a moment. Rossi was about to ask her further questions when she gasped.

 

         “Oh. My God! Agent Rossi! The woman! She works at the Happy Baby store! She’s the one I bought my car seat from!”

 

         “You’re sure?”

 

         “Yes! I know it was her!” Rossi handed her a glass of water from a side table. She gulped down a mouthful as she rose from her seat. “Take me to Michael now?” she half asked, half demanded. Rossi guided her out the door to his car, and pulled out his cell phone to call the K&MP unit, relaying the information Carolyn Johnson had just given him. He tried Hotchner, but got voicemail and left a message.

*******

 

         Rossi dropped Carolyn off at the hospital and continued on his way to The Happy Baby Store. Carolyn rushed into the Emergency Room and ran to the nurses’ station there. The head nurse assured her Michael was there and was fine and took her to the examining room where the baby was sleeping, still strapped safely into his car seat. The police officer who had been sitting in a chair next to the baby now rose and left.

 

         “The doctor has given the okay for you to take your baby home, Ma’am,” the nurse smiled. “Just let us know if we need to call you a cab or something.”

 

         Carolyn scooped up her child and left the examining room, and found Morgan, Hotchner, Garcia and Loker in the waiting room. She recognised Garcia from JJ’s wedding pictures and seeing FBI ID badges on Hotchner and Morgan, she approached the group.

 

         “You found my baby. I just want to thank you all so much.” Fighting back tears, she hugged first Morgan and then Hotchner before moving to Garcia and finally giving in, broke into sobs, which made Garcia’s eyes well up too.

 

         “There are no words. None. Thank you.” She stepped back. Carolyn didn’t recognise Loker, but understood immediately that she belonged to the group. She offered Dorian a hug as well and was taken aback when Loker suddenly burst into tears. Morgan extracted her from Loker and pulled her aside to explain the reason for Loker’s outburst. The noise woke Michael up, he whined a little but didn’t cry.

 

         “Oh my God! Is Dr. Reid going to be okay? Is there anything I can do to help?” She turned to address Dorian, “I’m so sorry. I hope he’ll be all right.” Loker settled down, and started apologising for crying but Carolyn would have none of it. Setting the car seat down, she took Michael out of it and sat next to Dorian.

 

         “Please. Would you like to hold the baby?” Not waiting for an answer, Carolyn placed her son into Dorian’s arms. He cooed and burbled and Dorian smiled down at him. Carolyn took the opportunity to stand up and address Morgan, Hotchner and Garcia.

 

         “It worked. The interview I did with Agent Rossi, I mean. Oh, and he tried calling you, Agent Hotchner, but he got your voicemail.” At this, Hotchner pulled out his phone. She glanced back and was glad to see both Dorian and Michael looked much better than they had only a few seconds ago. “I remembered what the woman looked like. And that she worked at the Happy Baby store. That’s where Agent Rossi went. And I remembered the car. Stupid really, but I remembered the first two digits of the license plate because I’m a huge Star Wars fan. It was R2-“

 

         Dorian gasped. “R217RS, she said aloud. “A dark green four door GM SUV!”

 

         Carolyn’s eyes widened. “Yes! That was it!”

 

         Everyone looked askance at her. “It almost ran me down last night. I just- I just remember things like that.”

 

         Garcia was already booting up her computer and inserting its hotspot to run the license plate. That information was passed onto Hotchner who made a few calls and thanked Carolyn for her information.

 

         “You two need to go home now. I’ll drop you off before I join Rossi. The Kidnap unit will want to catch these two. Now that JJ’s friend’s baby’s been recovered, they’ll probably want to take this over themselves.” Hotchner told them. “Morgan, stay with the ladies, update me if you get any news. And make it good news.” Dorian handed Michael back over to his mother and watched as he was carefully bundled back into his seat.

 

         “Thank you all again. For everything,” she said before giving Loker an extra hug and telling her she’d pray that Reid was going to be all right. As she walked out the door carrying her baby, Loker sank back down into her chair and buried her head in her hands.

 

******

 

         “It’s not bad, it’s not bad Nancy,” her husband assured her as he cleaned out the gunshot wound in his right shoulder. After eluding Morgan, he’d escaped down into the subway and taken the train downtown. Getting off after several stops, he went into a drug store and waited until the clerk was busy with another customer, then he quickly stole pain medication, disinfectant, adhesive tape and gauze and left. He’d spent the next few hours laying low in a pool hall then headed back uptown to the tiny basement apartment he shared with Nancy. She was waiting for him there.

 

         “I quit my job, Andy. We’re gonna have to leave DC.”

 

         “Yep, But we got one more order to fill Nancy. Tomorrow. We’ll get her, get our money and go. Piece of cake this one.”

 

******

        

         Morgan returned from the hospital’s coffee shop and handed a cup to Garcia who was sitting in a corner with her laptop whirring on her lap. Beside her on the table was a little purple panda, the twin to the one she’d put on Reid’s desk what now seemed like a million years ago. He walked over to the spot where Dorian sat and plunked himself down in the chair next to her. She declined the offered coffee but thanked him.

 

         “Look. Dorian. Reid’s gonna be all right.” He let a few thoughts cross his mind and then said, “It didn’t even look that bad. Really.”

 

         “I knew something was wrong. Really wrong. We were supposed to meet tonight, and he _always_ calls or texts me if something comes up. Which, with you guys and your cases happens _all_ the time!”

 

         She handed Morgan her cellphone, the last communication between her and Reid was the smiley face she’d sent after texting him “Back safe!” the night before, and he’d responded with “Thank you for indulging me,” each word typed out fully. Morgan smiled despite the gravity of the situation; even in his texts, apparently Reid rambled on.

 

         At that moment, the surgeon entered the waiting room. They all stood up, faces painted with anxious worry. He looked them over and said, “I’m thinking you are Dory?” correctly choosing Loker out of the small crowd. She stepped forward, not needing to be told to follow him.

 

         “He’s not exactly out of the woods yet, but he did manage to squeak out ‘Dory’. And he will recover, I assure you,” he addressed them all, before adding, for Loker only, “Please come with me.”

 

         A giant wave of relief washed over Morgan and Garcia as they watched the door to the recovery area swing shut behind Loker and the surgeon. Morgan immediately called Hotchner to relay the good news. Garcia busied herself texting JJ with the same news.

 

         “I hope they nail the sonuvabitch that did this to Pretty Boy.” Morgan practically growled. Now that it was apparent Reid wasn’t in danger of losing his life, Morgan’s priority returned to wanting justice. Garcia nodded in agreement.

 

         “Hotch. Sir Hotch will get him.”

 

         Morgan agreed.

 

         “Baby Girl, did you know that he was seeing her?”

 

         “Nope. I mean, not before today. I’m afraid our Boy Genius is _onto_ us, Chocolate Thunder. Not sharing the kind of personal information that feeds our insatiable curiosity.”

 

         In the recovery room, Dorian perched next to Reid who had yet to regain full consciousness. He drifted in and out but sensed someone’s presence and stirred a little. All taped up and with monitors and tubing everywhere, Dory gingerly picked up his free hand with one hand and stroked it gently with her other. She felt his reaction; he squeezed her hand ever so slightly.

 

         “He’s actually very lucky,” the surgeon explained. “His Kevlar stopped the first shot.” The vest lay on the chair beside the bed, and the surgeon picked it up and showed Dorian the shell lodged in front of it.” He continued, “Second bullet managed to enter his body below the Kevlar, just above his waist. No major organs were damaged, but he did lose a lot of blood, and there were a lot of bleeders to patch up. And he has a lovely large bruise on the front of his chest from the first impact. He should be coming around soon, and it would be nice to have a friendly face to wake up to.”

 

         The doctor smiled at Loker and indicated the nurse would be in to check up on Reid shortly, He was going to go back to the waiting room to speak to Morgan and Garcia.

 

*******

 

         Morgan’s phone beeped. He saw it was from Hotchner and answered it immediately, interrupting Garcia in mid sentence.  He listened intently as Hotchner spoke, and then relayed the surgeon’s words about Reid’s condition. The call concluded, Morgan turned to Garcia to update her.

 

         “Rossi and Hotch went to the store. The female unsub wasn’t there. The storeowner said she called in her shift this morning and quit her job on the spot. The address she supplied to her employer was a fake, but we know her name now. Nancy Redding. And the owner also realised something else that didn’t occur to her when we interviewed her previously. They don’t collect personal information for their _own_ records, but they do file that information on copies of their sales invoices that they forward to the manufacturer for the warranties on large purchases. Like car seats and high chairs.”

 

         As Morgan spoke, Garcia entered the name into her computer and searched.

 

         “And we still have the vehicle description and the plate number, thanks to Loker.”

 

*******

 

         “DC police just called Boone, they’ve tracked the suspect vehicle from the beltway, headed back into the city,” Hotchner told Rossi, who was at the wheel of their SUV. He’s got his agents on it, but said we were welcome to come along for the capture.

 

         “Boone and I go way back, Aaron. Nice of Charles to let us in on this one,” he swung the wheel around to join the pursuit. Hotchner’s phone rang again. Rossi wheeled carefully through traffic, listening on the radio to the officers involved in the pursuit. After several miles, he caught up to where the police were actively following the green SUV through the city’s downtown core.

 

         “There it is,” Rossi announced. The suspect vehicle was a couple blocks ahead of them, with four other police vehicles behind it. He concentrated on staying behind but keeping them in sight and glanced over at Hotch, speaking in low tones on the phone.

 

         Hotchner closed his phone and sighed. Rossi continued weaving around the city traffic, trying to maintain sight of the suspect vehicle ahead of them but not wanting to draw attention to their own car.

 

         “What is it, Aaron?”

 

         “Cruz.” He let out a deep breath.

 

         “What did he want?”

 

         “Apparently our senior management wasn’t happy that the BAU was called in for this case. They feel the FBI K&MP unit could have handled this with their own UCs and agents. They don’t think these simple thieves needed profiling. And they’re not happy that Reid was injured in the process.”

 

         “That could’ve happened to any one of us, Aaron. Reid may have saved that baby’s life. He certainly prevented the sale. You made all the right calls.”

 

         “I did, Dave. I called Cruz earlier. He was just getting back to me. They called me as soon as word came down Reid was hurt. I called Cruz, and he spoke to them. Explained that we got involved because of JJ. And her friend. Not sure what Cruz said to them and I don’t care. Point is, he went to bat for us and smoothed everything over.”

 

         Rossi nodded acknowledgement. And Hotchner finished “I just hope everything’s smoothed over for Loker and Reid too.”

 

         A smile forced its way onto Hotchner’s face for just the briefest instant as he thought about Reid’s expected recovery. His attention returned to their case. He counted at least four unmarkeds near their vehicle and Rossi had slowed down to stay out of the way of the pursuit.  A few minutes later, he spotted them following the unsub vehicle into the parking lot of an office building. He checked his watch, it was after 11 pm. Shutting down the lights he pulled the car over and waited.

 

         The unsub couple left their vehicle. Hotchner twitched as he realised the woman was carrying a baby. They entered the building. Agents were taking up position all around the building. Hotchner quickly spoke to Boone.

 

         “They have a baby with them. They’re making an exchange. If we wait, we can apprehend the buyers too!”

 

         “Affirmative,” the coordinator responded, and instantly directed his forces to wait.       

 

         Shortly, a high end SUV entered the parking lot and pulled into a spot right by the door. A well dressed and obviously well to do couple entered the building. The agents waited for the transaction to occur and once it did, they swooped in and arrested everyone without incident. Rossi and Hotchner attended and took the child. Tossing the keys to Hotchner, Rossi carried the baby back to their vehicle.

 

         “Don’t you worry now, little girl. We will get you back to your mommy and daddy soon,” he cooed. Hotchner suppressed a smile although Rossi’s sentiment echoed his own completely. And he pulled out his cellphone to call Morgan again while Rossi secured the child in her seat, in their SUV.

 

        “They’ve taken Nancy Redding— real name Nancy Everett— and her accomplice who’s her husband into custody. We’ve also recovered another baby, Morgan. A little girl with the bluest eyes and the blondest hair. On our way to the hospital with her, see what Garcia can find out about the Everetts.”

 

         “Andrew Everett,” Garcia announced, clicking a few keys on her laptop and showing Morgan the resulting picture. “He and his wife, Nancy have been in and out of jail all their lives. Petty thieves, burglaries, bank robberies. Wow, they graduated. Bigger money in online sales. And we’re not talking eBay.” She shook her head in disgust and let Morgan read the lengthy rap sheets on both of them. “How did she ever get a job in sales?” she asked in the most sarcastic tone she could muster.

 

*****

 

         Back at the BAU, Rossi and Hotchner had a visitor. FBI Surveillance Section Chief Bob Patterson, Loker’s boss, had arrived with sheaves of paper stacked in several boxes. They spread the reports all over the round table.

 

         “What an incredible amount of detail in these reports,” Rossi marveled. “Man, she’s thorough,”

 

         “She’s a genius,” replied Patterson, sounding very much like a proud father. “The smartest one on my team.”

 

         Hotchner and Rossi exchanged a grin and Rossi quipped, “We have our own resident genius. Of course, he’s currently in the hospital. With your genius at his side. What are the odds?”

 

         “Reid could probably tell you those odds, Dave,” Hotchner tried very hard -and failed- to keep a straight face.

 

         Flipping through another report, Rossi remarked, “She’s even got a list of every family in this area who has had a baby taken, going back for years! Contact information, victim descriptions, catalogued to abduction sites,” he interrupted himself when he found what he was looking for. “Here it is. Natalie Miller. That’s one of the families we spoke to, Hotch! The only recent blonde baby girl on this list. It’s gotta be her. The next youngest blond girl goes back about six months.”

 

         He passed the file over to Hotchner; the baby’s photo fell out of it. Rossi picked it up and they both confirmed, “It’s her.”

 

         Patterson nodded his agreement. Rossi was already punching the number into his cellphone. Patterson moved to stop him “It’s almost midnight!”

 

         “Their baby’s been found, I don’t think they’ll give a flying- um I don’t think they’ll care what time it is!”

 

         Bob Patterson raised an eyebrow and then quickly agreed Rossi was right. Rossi made his call.

 

******

 

         Dorian awoke with a start. She was half-sitting, half-laying on Spencer’s hospital bed. They’d moved him to a private room late the previous night. Her eyes widened as full consciousness occurred and she quickly stood up, smoothing out her clothes and wishing she had at least a hairbrush with her. Reid lay still, either sleeping or unconscious she didn’t know which, in his bed next to her. She brushed his unruly hair out off his face with her fingers then tip toed to the door. A nurse was in the hallway and Dorian asked where the restroom was. She was loath to leave Reid alone, even for a moment. The nurse sensed this and asked,

 

         “Why don’t you just use the patient bathroom?”

 

         Dorian replied, “I didn’t think that was allowed.”

 

         The nurse indicated Reid and said, “I don’t think he’d mind, honey,” with a knowing smile on her face.

 

         Dorian scurried back into Reid’s room and headed into the tiny bathroom. She splashed water on her face and ran her fingers through her hair in a futile attempt to tame it and couldn’t help but laugh at the results.

 

         “We match,” she thought aloud, followed by “My kingdom for a toothbrush,” as she returned to his bedside just in time to see him stirring.

 

         She leaned down to hear him better when she noticed he was trying to say something.

 

         “Dory?”

        

         “Is the baby, is the baby okay?” His voice was barely a whisper but his concern screamed out at her. “I promised her I’d get him back…” his voice trailed off.

 

         “He is, Spencer, he’s good. Michael’s fine, you kept him safe and he’s back with his mommy where he should be. Thanks to you,” she said with a catch in her voice she hoped didn’t register with him. Gently, she wiped his hair out of his eyes again. Honestly, how did that keep happening, she thought with a smile.

 

         “What happened?”

 

         “I don’t know, Spencer. We can ask Morgan later. But you were shot, that’s why you’re here.”

 

         His bare hand went to the massive amount of bandage on his left side and he looked up into her eyes with an unspoken question.

 

         “You lost a lot of blood the doctor said, but no major organs were damaged.”

 

         He nodded his understanding. His eyes were heavy, the sedative still very much in effect, but he had more questions. “What day is it, what time?”

 

         She told him and he realised he’d missed their coffee date the previous night.

 

         “Oh no. I stood you up yesterday. I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry,” it was paining him to speak which Dorian recognised.

 

         “Ssshhh, shhhh, it’s okay. You’re tired, you need to rest.”

 

         “No. No,” he tried weakly to protest. “I’m sorry Dory.”

 

         “Spencer, please. Shhhh. Save your strength, you need to rest.” He struggled not to break down.

 

         “I’ll be right here, I’m not leaving,” she said softly, stroking his cheek as she spoke. “I’ll be right here. I,” she hesitated before continuing, “I love you, Spencer.” As she stroked his cheek again, he moved his head so that his lips touched her hand and he kissed it before succumbing to sleep.

 

*******

 

         Garcia snapped her phone shut and told Morgan that she’d explained everything to JJ.

 

         “We’ve all been here all night, My Prince.”

 

         “I’m starving. I bet Dorian’s hungry too.” They went down to the hospital cafeteria to buy some food and coffee and picked up enough to include Dorian, then headed back to Reid’s room. Peeking in the window, Garcia and Morgan saw that Reid was sleeping peacefully and Dorian sat vigil at his bedside, holding his hand. Morgan quietly opened the door and he and Garcia slipped inside.

 

         Morgan handed Loker one of the coffees and motioned to a tray holding a supply of cream, sugar and stir sticks. Dorian laughed at the enormous pile of sugar packets on the tray, “You were thinking of Spencer, weren’t you?”

 

         Morgan flashed her a big smile. Dorian returned the smile and stirred her coffee. Morgan held out another tray, urging her to take a breakfast sandwich from it.

 

         “I hope you like eggs. And bacon and cheese.”

 

         “Thank you.” She was starved and took a bite of the sandwich. As they ate, a hospital employee entered the room and dropped off a tray with Reid’s ‘breakfast’ – two small containers of juice and something that may or may not have been broth - on it. Dorian looked it over and was suddenly grateful that Reid was sleeping.

 

         Turning to Morgan, she asked him to disclose the full story of what happened the previous night. Morgan weighed his options and disclosed everything, their investigation, the kidnappings, the black market angle and the shooting. He ended by telling her how much he admired the fact that Reid put the baby’s safety first, even when it meant risking his own life.

 

         Finishing her coffee, Dorian tossed the empty cup in the closest garbage receptacle and murmured a thank you to Morgan for being truthful. She checked on Reid for probably the tenth time in the last five minutes. Satisfied that he was still resting comfortably, she invited Morgan and Garcia to sit in the two chairs in the room while she chose a spot on Reid’s bed, taking care not to wake him.

 

         Garcia could not contain herself. She fretted over how to word her question for several minutes before she finally just blurted out, “Dorian, how long have you and the good doctor been dating?”

 

         “Since about three days after the Russian mob case we worked on together.” She smiled broadly at the memory of Spencer asking her out. In Russian. Her eyes moved from Garcia to Morgan and back again as she told them all about countless coffee meetings and dinner dates. “Walks in the park, trips to the museum, the Smithsonian. Chess game at 2 a.m. on a Saturday just because. There was a Dr. Who marathon on TV last weekend. Spencer doesn’t have a TV, so he came over and we watched it at my place. We ordered in Thai food. And we ate it with forks!” She stopped short of telling them about falling asleep together on her sofa, but thought of something else. “When he was sick one Sunday a couple weeks ago, we sat side by side on his sofa and read _Bleak House_ even though he thought I’d hate it.”

 

         “That sounds so nice,” Garcia said wistfully.

 

         Loker shuffled a bit, sitting a little closer to Reid, and taking his hand in hers, continued a little unhappily,  “He’s probably not gonna like that I told you about all this.”

 

         Penelope looked up, surprised. “What makes you think that?”

 

         “I just think if he wanted it known, he probably would have told you guys himself. He loves you guys all so much. I hear all the time about how you’re his family; you’re his best friends. Especially you, Agent Morgan. And I know he thinks the world of, let me see, what did he call you? The Oracle of Quantico?”

 

         Garcia’s eyes welled up with tears.

 

         Dorian started to cry, which set off Penelope as well. “I guess I just needed to talk about it.” The women hugged for a moment, then Dorian stepped back. “I love Spencer. And after Maeve,” she paused for a moment and Garcia squeezed her arm, “I just want him to be happy.”

 

          “Hey, Dorian. We all want that. Truly.”

 

********

 

         Rossi and Hotchner wheeled through the late morning traffic on their way to the hospital. It had been a long night, but a successful one, and both were in good spirits.

 

         “One of the best days of our career. Also one of the worst,” Rossi opined.

 

         “He’s gonna be okay, so I’d call it a good day all around, Dave. Two heartless criminals are locked up and at least three families have been successfully reunited.”

 

         “Mrs. Miller’s smile was just about the best thing I’ve ever seen in my life, Aaron. To see that baby and her parents back together,” he trailed off, smiling at the memory.

 

         Hotchner stopped at a light. He glanced over at Rossi and spoke; “I hope there’s a smile back on Dorian Loker’s face soon too.”

 

         Rossi nodded and the light changed, Hotchner let off the brake and drove on. They arrived at the hospital shortly; Rossi insisted they stop in at the coffee shop across the street first. He bought about a dozen coffees and emerged from the shop with a mountain of cream and sugar containers alongside the carry tray with the coffees. Hotchner laughed as he opened the hospital entrance and the two men disappeared through it.

 

         A few minutes later, the door to Reid’s hospital room opened and Rossi and Hotchner entered. Rossi put the coffees down on the tray table beside Reid’s untouched breakfast, adding to the previous mountain of cream and sugar containers. He gave the assembly a Rossi stare and quipped,

 

         “Guess we all had the same idea.”

 

         Rossi told Morgan, Garcia and Loker about the previous night’s success and the happy family reunion. Hotch was careful to include everyone’s contribution, including Loker’s instinct to memorise the unsub license plate. The group toasted Reid with their coffees, and the commotion woke the young man up.

 

         Wincing and in a fair amount of pain, Reid waved off suggestions the nurse be called and pain medication be administered. He was still adamant about refusing narcotics, all those years later. He struggled to sit up and Morgan stepped forward to help accomplish that. Reid got a whiff of his breakfast tray and made a face, pushing it aside. They all laughed when he discovered the coffee on the tray table and laid claim to at least two of them.

 

         “Are you sure you’re allowed to have coffee, Spencer?” she asked in a concerned tone. He made a face and sighed. Checking the items on the breakfast tray, he was disappointed with the contents and pushed the tray table away.

 

         Dorian arranged pillows behind him to facilitate sitting up more comfortably and listened to the easy banter between the team members. Reid leaned back against them, listening to Morgan and Garcia praise him for rescuing little Michael. He interrupted, shaking his head,

 

         “I just wanted the baby to be back with his mother. It must have been killing her, worrying about him,” he said, his voice full of empathy and pain. “It’s bad enough her husband’s away in Iraq. I promised Carolyn we’d get Michael back.”

 

         “Reid, you okay?” Morgan was really concerned now. He eyed the younger man carefully, “You just came through a couple hours of doctors dancing through your guts. Take it easy, man.”

 

         Garcia stepped forward and said, “This room needs cheering up.” As she got close to the tray table, she made a face at the smell of the breakfast tray and added, “And we’re gonna start by ditching—whatever this is. Because it isn’t breakfast. It’s, I dunno, but,” she’d swept the tray off the table and marched to the door. Rossi quickly stepped out of her way; Hotchner opened the door for her. She dropped the tray on a cart that was out in the hallway. Seeing a nurse, she asked “Can I get some red jello in here for the patient please?” She stepped back into the room, and continued, ”whatever it is, it’s out of here. I don’t know why they call it food. It’s hospital. It’s like airline…I’m babbling.” She rummaged through her purse and drew out the little purple panda, and placed it on the table beside the coffees. “There. That’s cheerier. More cheery? Happier. I’m babbling again. I’m sorry.”

 

         “It’s cheerier,” Reid agreed, affording Garcia a smile. “Thank you.” He leaned back into the pillows, grimaced slightly as a wave of pain crossed his left side, but reached for Dorian’s hand. She took his hand in hers immediately and bent down to kiss him gently. Dorian was a little surprised, pleasantly so, by how fervently he returned her kiss. It ended and she straightened back up but didn’t let go of his hand.

 

         “They know about us, don’t they?” It was almost a statement rather than a question.

 

         “It became obvious, but yes, I did tell them about us.” Confirmation.

 

         “You didn’t tell them _everything_ , did you?” There was just the slightest tone of apprehension in his voice.

 

         She couldn’t help it, a small giggle escaped from her mouth. Morgan checked his laugh.

 

         “Oh. Hell, no, Spencer. Of course not! I hope you’re not mad.”

 

         Despite his pain, he smiled wanly, “I could never be mad at you.”

 

         Four sets of eyebrows rose in unspoken question. Loker’s eyes met Reid’s and they shared a secret smile. Morgan started to say something but was quickly hushed by Garcia. Rossi couldn’t help but comment, “Morgan, shut up. This has been a good day so far!”

 

         Reid picked up the little panda with his free hand. He held it for a long minute and set it carefully back down. “Michael,” he said, barely audible, “Life’s precious. I’m not wasting another minute,” he tightened his grasp on Dorian’s hand, and pulled on it, drawing her to sit down next to him. A look of pain crossed his face and he fought it, squeezing his free arm against his side momentarily as the pain subsided. He licked his lips and let out a breath before continuing,

 

         “Dory. Ya lyublyu tebya,” he shifted his eyes from their hands to her eyes. He paused for a moment, as though summoning up courage, “Ya khochu chtoby my vmeste navsegda. Ty vyydesh  um, Ty vyydesh za menya?”

 

         Silence echoed loudly through the room for a long moment before Rossi noted,

 

         “I don’t know what he just said, but I think this could just become an even better day.”

 

        Dorian finally processed what Spencer had said to her, not that she didn’t understand, rather its unexpectedness. She let go of his hand, and Garcia held her breath. Tears glistened in Dorian’s eyes but the smile on her face spoke volumes. She hugged Spencer—carefully—and nodded her head, whispering, “Da. Da,” into his ear.” They kissed again.

 

         Hotch leaned over and spoke in low tones to Rossi. “Smoothed over. I told you it would be.”

 

         They heard Garcia exhale and saw her start to shake excitedly. Morgan reached out and touched her arm “Settle down, Baby Girl.”

        

         “I can’t, Derek, I can’t. I know this. I know what just went down, oh—“

 

         “What are you talkin’ about?”

 

         “Can we tell them?” Dorian asked Spencer, once again seated side by side.

 

         He smiled, the thousand watt Reid smile they all wanted to see. “We. Are gonna get married.”

 

         Garcia squealed. Instantly, she descended on Dorian, with talk of dress shopping and flower ordering. Morgan extended a congratulatory hand to the groom-to-be. Rossi and Hotch exchanged a look and Rossi couldn’t resist,

 

         “This just became the best day.”

 

         ‘What do you say, Dave, another BAU wedding at the Rossi mansion?”

 

         Reid overheard them and interjected, “Oh wait. No. No, I mean, No thank you. But no. That would take planning and arranging and booking and - I’m done waiting.” Dorian stepped away from Garcia and returned her attention to Spencer when she heard him. He was in such obvious pain and Dorian felt it was time for him to get some rest. She was about to suggest they all clear his room.

 

         “Dory?” his voice had dropped to a pained whisper.

 

         “Tomorrow?” she suggested—with no such intention— and hesitation in her tone. He obviously wasn’t well enough. “You need-“

 

         “I was thinking toda-“ he started, until his mind registered both the hesitation in her voice and that he’d interrupted her. “You want a proper wedding, don’t you?”

 

         “Sweetheart, it isn’t even that,” she took the pillows out from behind his back and made him lay back down in the bed. Morgan took them from her hands and set them aside on a chair while Garcia pushed the tray table away from the bed. Dorian pulled the blankets back up and tucked them around Reid’s upper body. He was feeling the effects of the mild pain medication wearing off and was now fighting pain with every breath and every movement. Hotchner left the room to get the nurse. Lying back down made him a little more comfortable but he was worn out and Dorian saw that. They could all see that. “When you proposed, just now, and I said yes? In my heart; in here,” she indicated her heart with her hand, “and in here,” lightly touching his chest, “we’re already together forever.”

 

         He blinked several times in succession to clear the tears welling up in his own eyes and nodded in agreement. “I take you, Spencer. Do you take me?” He nodded again. “There then. We _are_ married as far as I’m concerned. How about you?” He nodded again, and closed his eyes momentarily against the pain that washed over him physically. She smoothed his hair off his face and he reopened his eyes.

 

         “Soon?” he asked weakly.

 

         “Very soon,” Dorian promised. “We,” she indicated herself and Garcia whose hands began to tremble in happy anticipation, Dory noted before continuing, “we will take care of all the planning and arranging and booking. You don’t have to worry about anything except being there.”

 

         He sighed contentedly and reached for her hand, “Spasibo, lyubov moya.” She bent down to kiss him, repeating his words back to him, “Thank _you,_ my love,” as he fell asleep.

 

         Hotchner came back into the room, nurse and doctor in tow. The nurse put a large dish of red jello on the tray table and stood aside, waiting for the doctor to examine Reid and give her further instructions. Hotchner motioned for Rossi, Morgan and Garcia to leave with him and the four of them took seats in the waiting area. Garcia was already in high gear wedding planning mode.

 

         “Date. We need to set a date. How about Saturday? Do you think that’s too soon? Can-“

 

         “Whoa! Whoa whoa WHOA Baby Girl. Don’t ya think we oughta be letting Dorian and Reid set a date?”

 

         “She said soon. Saturday’s soon. Too soon? Not soon enough? I don’t-“

 

         “Garcia! Please!”

 

******

 

         The nurse left after giving Reid the injection prescribed by the doctor. Dorian pursed her lips, waiting until the door closed behind her before turning to the doctor, who was making notations on Reid’s chart.

 

         “I hope that was no narcotic!”

 

         “Ms. Loker?”

 

         “Mrs. Reid,” she corrected, liking very much how that sounded even if it was a little premature from a legal standpoint. “He doesn’t want,” she paused for emphasis, “any narcotic medications.”

 

         “It’s not an addictive one, if that’s your concern.” He’ll be asleep for most of the day now; I had the nurse give him a sedative too. He needs quiet. And rest.”

 

         Dorian nodded. “Done.”

 

         “I’ll be back to see him tomorrow morning. I’d like to discharge him into care at home if possible, perhaps tomorrow night or the next, if he’s got someone there to look after him and administer medication on schedule.”

 

         “Also done.”

 

         “Post operative recuperation at home has a more positive impact on a patient.”

 

         “Done, done and done, Doctor. I’ll do it myself.”

 

******

 

         She picked up the purple panda from the tray table and tucked it into Spencer’s hand, then bent over and kissed him. After ensuring the call nurse bell and the red jello were within his reach, she brushed his hair off his face once more and quietly left the room.

 

         The BAU team was waiting for her in the waiting room. Hotchner rose, took her by the arm and announced to all of them “Nobody’s eaten or slept in more than a day. Let’s go out for lunch, and then everyone go home for some rest!”

 

******

 

         Three days later, Dorian took Spencer’s keys out of her purse, unlocked his apartment door and led him inside, settling him down on the sofa. Carefully, she set the purple panda on the end table beside the sofa. After arranging pillows at his back and tucking a quilt in around him, she left him with a couple of books from his vast library and disappeared into the kitchen. She found tea but no bread to make toast, and headed back out to the living room where she found Spencer fast asleep, purple panda clutched in one hand.

 

         She clicked on her phone and called Penelope.

 

         “Flowers are done. I went with pink and purple. And white. Pink and purple roses. I hope that’s okay Dorian.”

 

         Stifling a laugh, Dorian replied, ‘Pink’s fine, Penelope. And purple is Spencer’s favourite colour. I’m actually calling for a favour-“

 

         “Name it!’

 

         “Spencer has pretty much nothing to eat in this house. I need some groceries, just basics.  And I don’t want to leave him alone right now. Would you mind terribly bringing some milk, bread and eggs,” she trailed off, realising a substantial grocery shop was what was really needed.

 

         “Got it! There in an hour!”

 

         She made a few other phone calls while Spencer slept peacefully. Everything was coming together perfectly, Dorian was excited. Almost as excited as Garcia, she thought with a laugh. A knock on the door told her the groceries had arrived. She answered it, expecting just Penelope with perhaps a bag or two, but when the door was open, Dorian found herself facing Hotchner, Morgan, Rossi and Garcia, each with at least two bags in hand; Garcia had garment bags draped over her arm.

 

         “Come on in,” she said quietly, “ But Spencer’s sleeping.” The men took the grocery bags into the kitchen; Penelope took Dorian’s arm and led her back towards the bedroom.

 

         “I picked up three for you to try on,” She explained, handing garment bags over to Dorian. “The flowers are ordered. I have one of our own Forensic staff set to do photos. He’s really good; it’s not always crime scenes and body parts. He’s done a couple of weddings. And baby photos. And other stuff like that.”

 

         Dorian smiled and unzipped the first bag while Penelope continued with her updates. “Rossi is looking after catering. Actually! He said he’d probably make up some of his own specialties too. And he’s booked wait staff. Ordered wine. And sparkling water. Cause JJ can’t drink alcohol. And rented a tent in case, you know, it rains. But that won’t happen. It wouldn’t dare. Rain I mean, on your day. No… and I’m babbling again.”

 

         Dorian had the first dress on by the time Garcia finished. “Hmmm,” she wasn’t sure this dress suited Dorian’s personality. “Try the next one.”

 

         As she changed into the second dress, Garcia picked up the one sided conversation again. “Morgan is looking after music. We’re still debating deejay or band. And then, classical because you know Reid doesn’t care for pop. Music I mean. Do you have a preference? You must have a preference. Of course you do.”

 

         “Classical. Definitely, but don’t go to the trouble of hiring a group. I’m sure we’ll be happy with recorded music. Penelope, I really like this one,” she said as she did a half turn and confirmed it. “Definitely this one.”

 

         “Oh good. I’m so glad you liked one of them. And so thrilled really, that you trusted me to do this for you. It means a lot, that you’re letting me help you with all of this. I feel so. Loved. Yes. I’m so excited.”

 

         Dorian smiled. Penelope was a great friend; it was evident why Spencer thought so highly of her.

 

         “Hotch took care of getting the marriage license for you. You’ll both need to fill it out and sign it, but it’s ready to go. Oh! And Rossi called in a favour, he’s got a JP ready, we just need a date, Dorian.”

 

         The dress was packed back into its garment bag and carefully hung in the closet. Garcia noticed that there were several changes of women’s clothes hanging in the closet.

 

         “Right. I’ll settle that with Spencer when he wakes up. He felt a lot better today. Managed to stay awake for the whole ride home.”

 

         “Okay then. Date. Soon. Oh, I have a few hair accessories too,” Penelope started.

 

         ‘There’s a big mirror in there,” Dorian indicated the bathroom and Penelope followed her. Her eyes took in that there were two toothbrushes in the holder on the vanity top and more than enough towels for two people hanging on the rack behind the door. Penelope had Dorian try two different hairpieces in quick succession and again, choice number two met with Dorian’s approval immediately.

 

         By the time the women returned to the living room, Reid was awake and sitting up, drinking the tea Rossi had made for him. They’d put all the groceries away; Rossi had made some cannelloni and now the men were preparing to leave. Dorian looked suspiciously at Morgan and Reid, who were conferring quietly about something. Morgan nodded his head at whatever Reid had said and then the four of them left, leaving Dorian alone with Spencer.

 

         “I’ll get you something to eat, you need your strength.”

 

******

 

         The sound of his cellphone vibrating on the nightstand next to him woke Reid up. He shifted position carefully so not to wake Dorian up, then rose out of the bed and grabbed the phone, hitting reply as he left the bedroom and shut the door behind him.

 

         “I got them, you want me to bring them by, Reid? Or should I just have ‘em there for next Saturday?” Morgan asked.

 

         “Thanks Morgan.” He debated with himself mentally for a moment trying to decide just which was the better course of action. “Bring them here, I guess, but not until later okay?”

 

         “Sure thing, kid.”

 

         “Thank you, Morgan. This means a lot.”

 

******

 

         “You’re sure you’ll be all right if I go out for a while, Spencer?” She was loath to leave him alone, even though he’d been home getting better for over a week. But she needed to meet with Bob Patterson about her case and probably now, she worried, her job. She’d been off looking after Reid since the night of the shooting almost two weeks ago. She also needed to stop by her own apartment and arrange to give it up.

 

         “I am _fine,_ I promise,” he stated. Dorian hadn’t let him out of the apartment, nor out of her sight since he’d come home from the hospital. “Morgan said he was gonna drop by on his way home from work. I won’t be alone long enough to get into any trouble.”

 

******

 

         “That is great news, thanks Mateo,” Hotch clicked his phone off and hurried down to the bullpen where his two agents sat going through reports.

 

         “Cruz just called. They’ve found two more of the kidnapped babies, and returned them to their families. Four more arrests. Twelve new charges pressed. He’s also filed our reports on the case with his superiors and we’re okay. They’re accepting our reports as final. Closing the books on this one.”

 

         Morgan and Rossi shut the files they’d been working on. Rossi invited them both out for a drink: Hotchner accepted, Morgan said he had an appointment and stood to leave.

 

         “See you Saturday at the wedding then, Morgan?” Hotchner asked.

 

         “Wouldn’t miss it! I’m the best man,” he smiled, “Course, I’ve always been the _best_ man,” he teased as he left.

 

*******

 

         Reid hurried when he heard the knock at the door. Morgan stood there with a cheesy grin.

 

         “Did you bring them?” Reid asked. He’d talked to the jeweler, a friend of Rossi’s named Don Winston, on the phone earlier in the week, explaining what he wanted and the man was more than happy to send three sets fitting Reid’s desired description.

 

        “I did,” he said, taking a cloth bag containing five velvet boxes out of his jacket pocket and handing it over to Reid. He opened one of them, took out the ring nestled inside and tried it on.

 

         “It’s perfect, Morgan. Like it was made for me.”

 

        “It _was_ made for you, Reid. Winston just wanted me to get you to try it on to make sure we did that size thing right.” It didn’t escape Morgan’s eye that Reid continued to wear it, playing idly with it while Morgan spoke.

 

         Reid opened the other boxes. One contained a plain gold wedding band exactly like the one he was still wearing, but in a much smaller size. He approved of it instantly. The others all contained engagement and wedding sets. He mulled over each set and finally chose one. Morgan put the remaining two back in their boxes and into the bag. He left the engagement ring Reid chose in its velvet box and gave it back to Reid. Then he added its matching wedding ring to the box containing the smaller of the two plain bands, and stopped. Reid raised an eyebrow, wondering what Morgan wanted. Morgan laughed and motioned to Reid’s hand, still playing with the ring on his finger. Wordlessly, he took the ring off and handed it to his best man who added it to the same box holding the other wedding rings.

 

         “Saturday. It’s all set. I’ll take these back to Winston for engraving and return the ones you didn’t want—Wait. Is Dorian not here?”

 

         “No. She had some issues to handle and finally decided I was well enough to leave by myself for a while.”

 

         “Then put on some shoes, man, and come with me.” Reid’s face lit up with the prospect of leaving the apartment for a while. He grabbed his wallet and carefully put on his shoes, a beat up pair of Converse sneakers, wincing slightly as he did so.

 

         “We’ll stop at the shoe store and get you some shoes to go with your tux we’re gonna have to go rent. I already reserved mine.”

 

         “No need for that Morgan. I actually own a tux.”

 

         “Why does that not surprise me?” They left the apartment laughing.

 

*******

        

         One bag slung over her shoulder, Dorian lugged a suitcase along the curb and hailed a cab.  She wrestled the luggage into the backseat, climbed in after it and gave the driver Spencer’s address. Leaning back in the seat, she exhaled a sigh of relief. She was tired, but the day had gone far better than she expected. Patterson was very happy with the work she’d done on this recent case. He was more than sympathetic about the situation with Spencer and had given her carte blanche with regards to time off. Two more babies had been returned to their families, four more arrests had been made. Her apartment lease was terminated, she’d arranged storage for furniture, stopped at the drugstore to pick up something, and she had most of her clothes in the two bags. Pulling her cell phone out of her purse, she texted Garcia to update her. More than almost anything else, she longed for a nice hot bath.

 

*******

 

         “Let’s grab burgers or something,” Morgan suggested as he and Reid left the jewelry store. “You up for that, Pretty Boy?”

 

         “Yes.” He took his cellphone out of his pocket and checked for messages. Nothing. Good, Dorian’s not checking up on me yet, he thought, and a grin spread across his face.

 

         After they ate, Morgan stopped at a shoe store and Reid bought some new black sneakers.

 

         “You’re not gonna wear _those_ for the wedding, are you?” Morgan asked.

 

         “Actually, yes. I am. Dorian specifically asked me to wear these,” he indicated the beat up pair he was wearing, “But I thought the occasion deserved new ones.”

 

********

 

         Reid gingerly made his up the stairs back to his apartment. Dorian wasn’t home yet. In the bedroom, he stashed his new shoes under the bed. Opening the closet door, he pulled out his tuxedo and checked to make sure it was clean and nothing was missing. The bowtie was in a pocket, the pocket square crammed in another. He looked at the latter ruefully; it would need ironing to make it wearable. He weighed that option and decided not to bother with it, shoving it into a dresser drawer. The cufflinks were located, the cummerbund and the crisp white shirt hung on the hanger under the jacket. He laughed when he found black socks in the jacket pocket. Discarding one, he rummaged through the dresser drawer until he found a suitable mismatch for the black sock. He decided on a purple one, remembering that Dory and Penelope had said something about pink and purple flowers. He put the two socks back into one jacket pocket, and took a small jewelry box out of his pocket. Clicking it open, he fingered the earrings and necklace he’d bought earlier in the day, smiled as he thought about giving them to Dory on their wedding night then shut the box, stowing it into the tux jacket pocket. That all sorted out, he returned to the living area and pulled the ring box out of his pocket, setting it down on the end table by the sofa, next to the purple panda.

 

         He heard her key in the door and rose from the sofa to greet her with a kiss. After her suitcase was unpacked and put away, he led her back into the living area and motioned for her to sit down. He reached past her to the table, past the purple panda and her eyes followed the movement of his hand, widening when she saw the ring box. He picked it up, dropped to one knee in front of her and opened the box, offering it up to her,

 

         “I’m about two weeks late with this, but I hope you like it. Again, Dory, Ty vyydesh za menya?”

 

         He took the ring out of the box, reached for her left hand and placed it on her ring finger as she fought back happy tears and nodded, whispering “Da, da.” She leaned forward and hugged him for a moment, they kissed, and then she pulled back and said,

 

         “Hey, just when did you get this?”

 

         “I went out today to pick it up,” he confessed, ‘But I arranged its purchase about a week ago. You like it?” Deflection he thought, and he wouldn’t be in trouble for not staying put and resting. She ruffled his hair,

 

         “I love it Spencer. The sapphires, all around the diamond. It’s beautiful. You obviously thought carefully about this.” She admired it for a moment.

 

         “Blue, like your eyes,” he said softly. She was touched. But not distracted.

 

         “And I should be mad at you for going out. But you had an accomplice didn’t you?”

 

         “Hey, who’s the profiler here?” he teased, but answered her immediately. “Morgan. We went out for burgers. And rings. I picked up the wedding bands too. Morgan has custody of those until Saturday. Or he will, after he picks them up tomorrow. They’re getting engraved.”

 

*******

        

         Garcia reconsidered her hair accessory for about the fortieth time Saturday morning and finally gave up, deciding less was more and just clipped it back with a simple barrette. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and the sky was a cloudless clear blue. The weather was cooperating, she noted, apparently her threats had worked. She wore a beautiful pink dress and matching pumps.

 

         She and Dorian had spent Friday night at Rossi’s mansion, “The groom can’t see the bride before the wedding!” she’d insisted. For someone who was as uniquely individual as Penelope Garcia, Dorian found herself laughing out loud at Penelope’s continuing insistence that they adhere to traditional wedding conventions. They’d stayed up until long into the night chatting about everything. Dorian had never felt more comfortable around someone than she did with Penelope. Except Spencer, she smiled at the thought.

 

         Dorian came out of the bathroom looking quite pale. Instantly, Garcia was concerned, but Dorian waved it off as wedding jitters.

 

         They did each other’s makeup and hair. Dorian put a pink rose into Garcia’s hair. She returned the favour, adjusting the petite veil on Dorian’s head and pinning some baby’s breath into it. They’d gone to the salon the previous afternoon to have their nails done and had been joined by JJ and her friend Carolyn. The foursome had a memorable afternoon, deciding this spa trip might just have to become a monthly tradition. Dorian had found herself very much at ease with them.

 

         Once dressed and made up, the ladies relaxed for a few minutes. Penelope went downstairs to get their floral bouquets. “Did you bring it?” she asked.

 

         “Oh. Yes, I’ll get it,” Dorian replied. She opened her purse and pulled out the purple plastic panda, handing it over to Penelope. Taking it from her, Garcia found a spot in the bride’s bouquet and fastened the little toy into it. “Something borrowed,” she explained. She reached into her bag and pulled out ‘something blue’ (a garter provided by JJ the day before), ’something old’ (a pearl necklace provided by Carolyn Johnson) and ‘something new’ (pink pearl earrings from Morgan’s girlfriend Savannah who had been unable to attend the spa date because of work but would be coming to the wedding.)

 

         Cars began arriving, Garcia was kept busy announcing arrivals and checking on arrangements “Oh! JJ and Will are here! They brought Henry. And the new baby!” was followed quickly by “Oh good, the photographer’s here” and finally, the moment they were both awaiting. Morgan’s car arrived, with the groom in tow. Penelope pushed Dorian away from the window —“Can’t have Spencer seeing you before the ceremony!”— but she gasped and held her breath when Morgan emerged from the vehicle.

 

         “What is it?” Dorian asked.

 

         “Oh. My God. It’s My Hot Chocolate. In his penguin suit. Such a beautiful sight. Never before seen.”

 

         Dorian laughed, and Penelope teased, “And Spencer looks pretty good too.”

 

******

 

         The ceremony went off beautifully. Rossi had outdone himself. Floral arrangements lined the patio; their luscious scent filled the air. Two fountains splashed as a backdrop and despite Dorian’s suggestion that recorded music would suffice; a small orchestra was set up at the back of the tented area. Several tables were set up, draped in pink linen and centerpieces matching the bride’s bouquet of pink and purple roses and white lilies. The wine flowed and the food was outstanding.

 

        Dorian was a radiant bride, Spencer a magnificent groom and they were surrounded by the love of new friends and old. Alex Blake, Kate Callahan and Emily Prentiss had all managed to attend the wedding of their former teammate and were now busy circulating catching up with their old colleagues.

 

         JJ and Carolyn sat by their table with their infant sons in their arms while Will LaMontagne played nearby with his other son Henry and Jack Hotchner. Dorian and Spencer approached them; Reid motioned for them to stay seated as both women moved to rise to greet them. JJ obeyed him. Carolyn ignored his request and stood up, little Michael still in her arms.

 

         “I promised Dorian yesterday I -we- would be here today. I’m glad to see you’re well, Spencer. I never had a chance to thank you for what you did for Michael, for us, that night.” Her eyes brimmed with tears. “I wanted Michael to meet the man who saved him,” she smiled as she handed the baby over to Reid. “I hope this is okay- his baptism was last weekend and we gave him the middle name Spencer. Thank you so, so much.” She reached up to kiss his cheek, and stepped back to do the same to Dorian. The women watched in silent awe as Spencer and Michael made eye contact and had a short but intense conversation. Reid did most of the talking, “Never forget the people who love you, Michael. And never forget to love them.” He rocked the little boy back and forth, smiling as he spoke and was rewarded with a burbling noise and baby smile in return. Dorian watched as her new husband gave baby Michael a kiss on the forehead before handing him back to his mother. After thanks and congratulations were passed along, Spencer took Dorian’s hand and they moved on.

 

         Wait staff flitted in and out between the guests and kept the guests’ champagne glasses filled. Morgan sidled up to Hotchner and Rossi, champagne glass in hand,

 

         “This is great, you guys did a great job. _We_ did a great job.”

 

        “That we did,” Rossi agreed. He stood with Patterson and Hotchner, who looked to him like a pair of proud fathers, cherishing their children’s most celebrated achievement. “Cruz just told us that they’ve reunited another baby with his parents thanks to some digging they did with the information Loker compiled. Oh. Is she still Loker now or do we start calling her Agent Reid? It’s gonna be confusing.”

 

         “Doctor Reid. Agent Reid. Not a problem, Dave,” Hotchner said with a twinkle in his eye.

 

         “Look how happy The Kid is,” Morgan exclaimed. “Isn’t it great? After all this time?”

 

         The others nodded in agreement, raising their glasses. Cruz and Boone joined them. Hotchner shook both their hands, thanking them again for their help in the case and for attending the wedding.

 

         The orchestra started up behind them. Hotchner smiled knowingly when he noticed the waiter refilling Reid’s glass was turned away when he moved on to fill Dorian’s. He nudged Morgan.

 

         “Oh, it’s time for me to do the Best Man thing and make a toast I guess!” Morgan started to make his way back to the newly married couple.

 

         Spencer took Dorian’s hand to lead her to the dance floor. He noticed she refused champagne, opting instead for the sparkling water; but as neither of them ever drank much alcohol, he didn’t think much of it.  As he took her into his arms for their dance, she took a moment to look at him, head to toe. He’d gotten his hair cut. It had been trimmed neatly, but not radically shortened as she’d threatened mock severe punishment if he had done anything to its glorious length. She ran her hand through it to muss it up, and he stepped back,

 

         “What? What’s wrong?”

 

         “It was just _too_ perfect. I like it better when it’s,” she searched for words and decided, “lived in. More _you_.”

 

         He laughed and hugged her. “You look stunning,” he whispered against her hair.

 

         “And you really rock that tuxedo. You are breathtaking,” her eyes traveled down to his shoes, “And indulging. You wore your sneakers like I asked you to!”

 

         Dory laughed and laid her head against his chest. He kissed the top of her head before tipping her chin up to face him and their lips met in a searing kiss.

 

         “Of course! Prepare for a lifetime of indulgence.” He held up both their left hands, playing with the rings on her finger. She ran a finger along his ring finger, liking the look of his wedding band upon it. They kissed again and were interrupted.

 

         “Heeeeey, Pretty Boy. And Beautiful Lady. Congratulations,” Morgan said, then made his way to the microphone.

 

        Dorian leaned close and asked,

 

         “Why does he call you Pretty _Boy_?”

 

         He smiled, shrugged and told her, “Cause I’m the youngest.”

 

         “Well,” her voice dropped to a whisper so only he could hear, “In about eight months, he’s gonna be calling you Pretty Daddy.”

 

         Spencer stopped in his tracks. He stared into her eyes for confirmation. She nodded her head. He bit his lip. His breath quickened. And then he swept her up in his arms squeezing her against him until he could squeeze no more; he let her feet touch the ground once more and buried his face in her shoulders.

 

 

 

 _“_ _Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.”_ ― [Plato](http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/879.Plato)


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